Diego Valeri’s Back: What does it mean for the Portland Timbers?

In the 52nd minute of Saturday’s match between Portland and Vancouver, the Timbers faithful let loose a roar that hasn’t been heard in Providence Park this season. Diego Valeri, who led the Timbers in both goals and assists last year, was preparing to make his first appearance of the season, and hopefully lift a team that has been mostly listless this season.

The 51 minutes Portland and Vancouver played prior to Valeri’s entry into the match were a perfect microcosm of the Timbers’ season thus far; a defense that nullified a very potent Vancouver attack while offensively, almost entirely reliant on Darlington Nagbe’s ability to create. Unfortunately, Nagbe was unable to help his own cause against Vancouver, as he took Portland’s first penalty kick of the season and planted it firmly off the post, in what turned out to be the best opportunity for either team in the match.

While Nagbe has performed admirably in the face of near-constant double and triple teams this season, he has had little-to-no help from the rest of Portland’s attacking players. Whether it be Fanendo Adi’s puzzling inability to finish, Rodney Wallace’s errant shots, or Maximilliano Uruti’s seeming invisibility, every Portland attacker outside of Nagbe has struggled mightily this season. As a result, the Timbers have scored 7 total goals in 9 games, leading to a thoroughly underwhelming .77 goals per game. Even while missing Valeri, Portland should have been able to do more on the attack with the way chances and attention that Nagbe has created while keying the offense.

Unfortunately, Valeri’s return did not have a storybook ending. He was obviously rusty, missing on a couple opportunities that he ordinarily would have at least forced the goalkeeper to make a save on. But even at less than 100% and working off 7 months’ worth of rust, it was immediately obvious what having Valeri in the lineup does to Portland’s spacing and attacking creativity. Up until Valeri’s entrance into the game, every Portland opponent has had essentially the same defensive game plan – take away Nagbe’s space and time and make one of the other Portland attackers beat you. Thus far this season, the Timbers have been unable to take advantage of all the extra attention focused on one player.

But with Valeri soon set to resume his full-time role as the key to Portland’s attack, Nagbe now has someone to play off of who he can rely on. Even in his first appearance, Valeri’s 40 minutes on the field created some of the best and most creative attacking play the Timbers have seen this season. Vancouver was no longer able to solely focus on Nagbe, which opened up space for his runs, which opens up space in more dangerous spots for everyone else. Valeri’s vision and passing were also on full display early, with backheels and one-touch passes that no one else on the Portland roster would even be able to see, much less complete.

Valeri’s return to the lineup will not immediately fix all of the Timbers’ woes; he cannot magically force Adi or Uruti to finish the chances they are given, and cannot make Rodney Wallace, Ishmael Yartey, and Gastón Fernández more dangerous with their dribbles and passing. But what Valeri’s return does do is give the Timbers a desperately-needed second (or first) attacking option; teams can no longer focus entirely on taking away Nagbe’s dribbles and penetrating moves and expect Portland’s attack to wither as a result.

After the game, Caleb Porter said that he felt his team “played well” and “played to win,” a common theme from the Timbers coach thus far this season. Unfortunately, it has yet to reflect on the scoreboard or in the standings. With Diego Valeri’s return and Darlington Nagbe playing at a high level, the Timbers can hopefully turn “playing well” into “winning games.”

Related Slideshow: Oregon’s Most Devastating Sports Injuries

Greg Oden

Sept. 2007 — Micro fracture surgery on right knee

Dec. 2009 — Fractured left patella

Nov. 2010 — Micro fracture surgery on left knee

Dec. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on right knee

Unfortunately, Trail Blazer fans everywhere already know how drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant worked out for their team. After being be the #1 selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Oden was never able to play a full season due to ongoing knee injuries. The team eventually waived him in March of 2012.

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Dennis Dixon

Nov. 2007 — Torn left ACL

During the 2007 season Dixon had the Oregon Ducks as the #2 team in the country. That was until he suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State and attempted to play on it the following week against Arizona. After Dixon went down for the season the Ducks lost their remaining two regular season games. Fortunately, they were able to end their season on a high note with a victory over South Florida in the 2007 Sun Bowl.

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Brandon Roy

Sept. 2008 — Cartilage removed from left knee

April 2010 — Meniscus tear in right knee

Jan. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on both knees

Brandon Roy is perhaps one of the most beloved Trail Blazers in the history of the franchise. After being drafted in 2006, and leading the team out of the "Jail-Blazer" era, he had to make the tough decision to retire at the young age of 28. His degenerative knees prevented Rip City from seeing their superstar ever play to his full potential.

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Jacquizz Rodgers

Nov. 2008 — Grade II separation of the acromioclavicular joint

During the second to last game in 2008 Jacquizz Rodgers suffered a separated shoulder that ended his season. Unfortunately, this meant that he wasn't able to play in the Civil War, which was perhaps the biggest game of the year for the Beavers. If the Beavers had been able to defeat the Ducks they would've been able to book their tickets to play in the Rose Bowl. Instead, they went to the Sun Bowl where they defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers.

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James Rodgers

Oct. 2009 — Torn left ACL

After participating in only 4 games during the 2009 season Rodgers went down with a torn ACL while playing against #9 Arizona. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Rodgers considering he was expected to have a breakout season. Rodgers, who was a senior at the time, was able to end his career at Oregon State as the career leader in all-purpose yards.

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Joel Pryzbilla

Dec. 2009 — Ruptured right patella tendon and dislocated patella

In December of 2009 the Trail Blazers' backup center, Joel Pryzbilla, was lost for the season with a ruptured and dislocated patella. This was a huge blow to the Trailblazers' frontcourt because they had already lost Oden for the season a few weeks before. Pryzbilla was also the team's defensive anchor who provided an inside presence. "The Vanilla Gorilla" was sorely missed for the rest of the year.

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LaMichael James

Oct. 2011 — Dislocated right elbow

The 2011 season couldn't have started any better for LaMichael James. After the first game James became Oregon's career rushing leader, surpassing Derek Loville. During the second game he rushed for over 200 yards against Missouri State. Unfortunately, James' year was slowed by a dislocated elbow suffered against Cal. Luckily for Duck fans he was able to return to end the season.

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Nate Costa

Nov. 2010 —Torn Right ACL

After suffering a multitude of knee injuries throughout his career at Oregon Costa was forced to officially retire from football after tearing his ACL for the third time in agame against Washington. Although Costa's career was hobbled by injuries many of his teammates looked to him as their leader. Oregon's coaching staff referred to Costa as the "heart and soul" of the 2010 team that won the Rose Bowl.

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Sean Mannion

Oct. 2012 — Torn Left Meniscus

During the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, Sean Mannion was enjoying one of his best as a Beaver. Unfortunately, he tore his left meniscus against Washington State that resulted in him missing around half the season. With Mannion leading the way the Beavers had the Pac-12's fourth rated offense, averaging 459.5 yeards per game. With Mannion sidelined Cody Vaz became the starting quarterback

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Marcus Mariota

Oct. 2013 — Partial MCL Tear

Marcus Mariota is widely regarded as one of the greatest Oregon Duck quarterbacks to ever play at Autzen. Unfortunately a knee injury hobbled his sophomore season. After Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA he conintued to play the remainder of the season. With Mariota's knee not allowing him to be as mobile as he was accustomed to teams were able to take advantage. In the weeks following the injury the Ducks suffered losses to Stanford and Arizona. Duck fans everywhere would like to know what that season woud've loked like if Mariota had stayed healthy.

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CJ McCollum

Oct. 2013 — Broken fifth Metatarsal In Left Foot

After being taken 10th overall during the 2013 NBA Draft the shooting guard out of Lehigh wasn't able to start his career the way many had hoped. After breaking the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot the rookie wasn't able to take the court until January of 2014. Before the injury McCollum was in consideration for playing time behind Lillard.

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Alex Morgan

Oct. 2013 — Stress reaction in talus bone

During the 2013 season Morgan suffered an injury that doctors misdiagnosed as a mildly sprained ankle. After a few additional tests were performed it turned out that Morgan had suffered a far more serious injury. She actually suffered a stress reaction in the talus bone that put her immediate future with Team USA in question. After rehabbing for 7 months Morgan was able to make a full recovery.

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Bralon Addison

April 2014 — Torn left ACL

After exceeding expectations as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Oregon Addison was expecting big things from his junior year. Unfortunately, Addison suffered a torn ACL during last year's spring practice that kept him sidelined the entire year. Without Addison in the lineup the receiving core never lived up to their full potential. If he had been able to play this season the National Championship may have wielded a different outcome.

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Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

Dec. 2014 — Torn ACL

In preparation for the first ever college football playoffs Ekpre-Olomu ended up tearing his ACL during a routine practice. This was a huge blow to the Ducks considering Ekpre-Olomu was one of the team's better defenders. He was also one of the best corners in the country who many analysists expected to be selected as high as the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

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Wesley Matthews

March 2015 — Torn left achilles

Just 2 months before Matthews suffered a torn achilles he had become the Trailblazers' all-time leader in 3-point field goals made. It looked as though the Trailblazers were poised to make a deep playoff run. Things took a drastic turn when Matthews was lost for the season. With the team in a 0-2 hole against the Memphis Grizzlies it doesn't look as though they will be making it to the second round of the playoffs this year.